Police said two other men were wounded and no arrests had been announced by Tuesday.
DECATUR, Ga. — A birthday party at a home in DeKalb County turned deadly early Tuesday when gunfire broke out outside the house on Bluebird Lane, leaving one 20-year-old man dead and two other men injured, according to police and the county medical examiner.
The shooting drew a large police response to the Belvedere Park area and left investigators working for hours to piece together what happened after a late-night gathering. DeKalb County police said officers found three people shot outside the home after they were called there around 2 a.m. The dead man was identified as Antonio Hardrick of Clayton County. The two surviving victims were hospitalized with what police described as moderate injuries. By Tuesday, investigators had not announced an arrest, a suspect description or a motive.
Witness accounts and police statements point to a fast-moving scene that shifted from celebration to chaos in minutes. Candace Taylor, who told Atlanta News First that she was at the party for her best friend’s 22nd birthday, said people had begun leaving when gunfire erupted. “People left, and then shots started going off,” Taylor said. Officers were dispatched to the 3100 block of Bluebird Lane at about 2 a.m. and found the victims outside the house, authorities said. Other local reports said the gathering was being held at a rental home and that roughly 15 people may have been there earlier in the night, though police have not publicly confirmed how many partygoers were present when the shots were fired. By sunrise, crime scene tape blocked the property and part of the street as detectives and forensic teams examined the front yard, driveway and porch area.
Officials released only limited details Tuesday, and many central questions remained unanswered. The DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office said Hardrick, 20, died at a hospital after the shooting. Police have not publicly identified the two wounded men, and they have not said whether investigators believe the gunfire came from one shooter or more than one. They also have not said whether Hardrick and the two survivors were guests, nearby residents or people who had just left the gathering. Television footage and witness descriptions from the scene showed a heavy police presence, evidence markers and officers searching the front lawn with flashlights. Atlanta News First reported that a handgun could be seen in the mulch near the porch early in the investigation, while WSB reported that officers appeared to recover two guns. Police have not publicly described the evidentiary role of any weapon found at the scene.
The location of the shooting quickly became part of the story because the house had been tied to short-term rental activity. Atlanta News First reported that the property had previously been listed on Airbnb, though the company said the home was not rented through its platform on Monday night. By Tuesday, the home was no longer visible on Airbnb, according to the station. That left open a separate question about how the party was organized and whether the people inside had leased the property through another service, through a private arrangement or by some other means. Neighbors in these cases often face the immediate effects first: blocked streets, flashing patrol lights and uncertainty about whether the violence was targeted or random. Even so, police have not said that the home’s rental status was connected to the shooting itself, and no public record released Tuesday established that the property owner or any platform operator had committed any violation.
What happens next will likely unfold in stages. DeKalb County police said the investigation is ongoing, but as of Tuesday they had not announced homicide charges, arrests or a named person of interest. Investigators typically work through witness interviews, shell casing analysis, ballistic testing, surveillance footage and cellphone evidence in shootings like this, but police had not outlined those steps publicly in this case. The agency asked for tips from anyone with information, and local reports said anonymous information could be sent through the department’s Tip411 system or by phone. A formal charging decision, if one comes, would likely depend on whether detectives can establish who fired the shots, whether there was an argument or confrontation before the gunfire, and whether any self-defense claim is raised. The medical examiner’s identification of Hardrick provides the first confirmed public record in the homicide, but prosecutors would need a much fuller investigative file before any court action could begin.
At the scene, the emotional impact was visible alongside the evidence search. Taylor said she was grateful to have survived and focused on the three people who were shot. “I’m just thankful I get to see another day. I thank God. God is good,” she said. “I pray for those three people, because nobody deserve that, period — to get shot. Period.” Her account captured the abrupt shift from a birthday gathering to a homicide investigation. By daybreak, officers were still moving through the property with flashlights, and the taped-off house stood as the center of a neighborhood crime scene rather than a party venue. For relatives and friends of Hardrick, the story had already moved beyond the question of what happened at the house to a harder one that had no public answer Tuesday: why a 20-year-old ended up dead outside a celebration that was supposed to mark a friend’s birthday.
By late Tuesday, authorities had publicly identified the man who died but had not named a suspect or explained what led to the gunfire. The next clear milestone is any police update on arrests, suspect information or a stated motive.
Author note: Last updated March 11, 2026.